


Two Poems: Home in the flat of your hand

by shelter



Category: Claymore
Genre: Claymore Fanfic Day, Farewells, Gen, Pantun, Poetry, Post-Series, Technically a spoiler for the end of the manga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 10:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7930495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelter/pseuds/shelter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-series. Two poems written using the pantun form about the warriors' final victory and their farewells. Written for Claymore Fanfic Day 2016.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Poems: Home in the flat of your hand

**Author's Note:**

> For Claymore Fanfic Day 2016, I decided to try to experiment with the Pantun, a local Malay poetic form. Unfortunately, the poems here seem to have become a less like pantuns and more like odes. To know more about the pantun form, you can read [this post](http://fazu.typepad.com/ruminations/2005/01/faqs_on_pantun.html).
> 
> Mainly recited and in Malay or Arabic, pantuns convey love and longing. 
> 
> I'm grateful to [SilverDagger](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDagger/pseuds/SilverDagger), who kicked off Claymore Fanfic Day in the first place (you don't have to leave comments on this if you don't want to), and to [NumberA](http://archiveofourown.org/users/NumberA/pseuds/NumberA), with whom I've had some the best conversations about Claymore fandom and who alerted me to Claymore Fanfic Day (it's tough not being on Tumblr). Also, I'm thankful to the idea exchange that goes on in the Discord chat group.

**1.**

**Victory Song**  


_From mountains crowned with frost_  
_to valleys in the basin of the sea_  
_they from yonder places fought for our cause:_  
_the defence of the holy city._

_They came from coasts cloaked with cloud,_  
_from plains in the swell of the wind,_  
_they came, daughters of unknown towns,_  
_for the very realm's existence to win._

_Like lions and tigers, bears and snakes_  
_they and the awakened stood as one;_  
_fighting she who consumed all in her wake:_  
_the abyssal slayer, the one-horned._

_They fought their own corrupted flesh,_  
_bourne on the faint flutter of life;_  
_wings too dear to exchange with death,_  
_wings too willing to unfurl and fly._

_Then a mighty angel with a faint smile,_  
_came from on high in their hour of need;_  
_she wore a visage like a mirage while_  
_flowers of paradise bloomed from her feet._

_Seizing victory from the claws of defeat_  
_through the power of one's supreme will;_  
_the monster falls, cries, retreats,_  
_dissolves its self into the misty hills._

_In the silence that echoes in the breeze_  
_the warriors wait, knees in the grass;_  
_peace has finally been released_  
_and anoints them like kings, at long last._

 

* * *

**2.**

**A toast to your farewell  
**  

_Cloves and cinnamon in the morning_  
_spiced warm milk for you at night;_  
_may your joy be overflowing,_  
_may peace be the flavour of your life._

_An apple for your journey home,_  
_bathe your lips with sweetest wine;_  
_remember, your life's path is never alone,_  
_your coming and going is not goodbye._

_Will you place my hand on your heart,_  
_and let us comb the tears from your face?_  
_Your heart, my soul as you depart;_  
_your eyes, our world till we meet again._

 

_END_

**Author's Note:**

> I realise poetry can be very abstract and vague, unless referencing certain events in canon. So here's a short explanation on the thought process.
> 
> In 'Victory Song', I imagined a kind of ode that gets sung after the warriors defeat Priscilla and are greeted like victors when returning to Rabona.
> 
> 'A Toast to your Farewell' is something a bit more abstract. Because I've been writing Claymore characters post-series for my collection [Evenings without Echoes](http://archiveofourown.org/series/489364), I had in mind warriors exercising their newfound freedom by going to wander the island and tie up loose ends (like what Helen & Deneve did in Chapter 155). With warriors so close, I've always imagined farewells to be emotional. This three-stanza poem, written in very strict pantun style (first two lines dissociated from the last two) tries to capture that. The apple mentioned is a direct reference to Helen's love for apples, since Helen & Deneve are the characters I had in mind when I wrote this.


End file.
